As automotive ecosystem continues to evolve, traditional automakers are concerned about their future role. They fear a “Nokia scenario”, where they would be outcompeted due to technology evolution or a “Foxconn scenario”, where they would become a volume manufacturer, with price as the sole differentiator and a limited role in the value chain. OEMs are not willing to accept either of the above scenarios and are investing heavily in all the pillars of the new ecosystem – shared mobility, autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles – to stay ahead in the future value chain. Investments in car sharing services will also help automakers to push their EVs and autonomous cars to these service providers, who are expected to become the major consumer of vehicles.
Hyundai has become aggressive in shared mobility space since last year in a bid to catch up with BMW and Daimler. In 2018 alone, Hyundai has invested in car sharing start-ups in India (Revv), Australia (Car Next Door) and United States (Migo). – Aman Madhok